HONEY HONEY Manuka honey is, according to its exponents, a honey less ordinary. Made by bees that feed on New Zealand's manuka trees, it is extremely antiseptic.
New Zealand has invested heavily in researching its medicinal qualities; depending on its strength, the honey can help treat (although perhaps not cure) indigestion, heartburn, diarrhoea and even stomach ulcers, as well as cuts, grazes and burns. How does Irish honey rate by comparison? Philip McCabe of Apimondia, a beekeeping organisation, says heather honey and rapeseed honey harvested here should have similar antiseptic qualities. McCabe, a third-generation beekeeper, says his father used to apply honey to wounds on horses. "Honey is the oldest medicine known to mankind," he adds. Manuka honey is available from good health food shops; look for the word "active" on the label. See www.manukahoney.co.uk for more information - and for serious health problems, of course, consult your doctor. Nicoline Greer
PAPER CHASE Drop in to the Cornucopia vegetarian restaurant, on Wicklow Street in Dublin, anytime this month to check out a new exhibition featuring the light touch and witty work of Sheena Power, a young Dublin artist. Power's website, www.baglady-designs.com, offers a wide range of cards for different occasions. You can also find them in Dublin at Stiggy Boom, on Fownes Street, and the two Whichcraft outlets, on Cow's Lane and Lord Edward Street. They're also at Paperworks in Kinsale, Co Cork. Brendan Glacken
BOXING CLEVER We know we should have gone organic long ago, but our supermarket's prices and underwhelming selection kept putting us off. And although we'd heard of box schemes in Dublin, in which you get a weekly delivery of fruit and vegetables, they were hard to track down elsewhere. Now we're fans of Ballybrado Direct, an ambitious operation that aims to make reasonably priced organic food more readily available - look at its website, www.ballybrado.com, to see if it delivers to your area. Its masterminds are Josef Finke, who also runs the Good Herdsman organic meat company, and Denis Healy, the Co Wicklow fruit and vegetable grower. The website's focus, like that of a farmer's market, is fresh produce, and tends to reflect the time of year. That doesn't mean Ballybrado's range is limited: the oranges, pears, pineapples and kiwi fruit have been particularly good this month. It also offers everything from baby food to wine, with tasting notes by Tom Doorley (for the wine, not the baby food). Don't overlook the meat: everything we have tried has been splendid, including the chicken for €5 - less than half price - when you spend €25 on a trial order (it's in the New Customers section of the online store). The delivery charge is reasonable, too: we pay €4.50, about half what we'd have to pay Tesco or Superquinn. If you're tempted to give it a go, the worst that might happen is that something you've never tasted - with us it was kohlrabi - will turn up in your box of vegetables, and you'll have to search the web for recipes. I hear it makes great coleslaw. Liam Stebbing
THE SUN, THE MOON AND THE STARS If you stayed in exactly the same spot, you would probably see a total eclipse of the sun, oh, once every 400 years or so. According to David Moore of Astronomy Ireland, the next one will be visible here in 2090. If that's too long to wait, his group is organising a trip to Turkey on March 26th this year to see the most accessible full solar eclipse until 2017. "It is a spectacular sight," says Moore. "For three and a half minutes, day turns to night; you see the stars and a pearly white ray of fog." The week-long visit costs €899, including flights and half-board accommodation, if you book early enough. See www.astronomy.ie or call 01-8470777. Nicoline Greer
CREATIVE ENERGY Richard Seabrooke seems to be several very energetic people trapped inside the body of one man. The creative director of Dynamo, a graphic-design firm, has just published the fifth issue of Candy, his online design magazine, which comes as more than 400 pages of free PDFs on the theme of "Impulsive, Obsessive". The first half was due out on St Valentine's Day; expect the second by St Patrick's Day. Seabrooke also puts on SweetTalk evenings - gatherings of creative types who chat and show off their work. The next Dublin event is on March 22nd, at the Sugar Club. The €5 entry fee includes a cocktail. There's also one in Limerick on March 15th, at the Trinity Rooms. Find out more and download Candy at www.candyculture.net. Nicoline Greer
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE On Monday Planet Aqua arrives in Dublin after a stint at Lifetime Lab, in Cork. The point of the free exhibition, which is being held at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham (part of the IMMA complex), is to get primary pupils to value water, our most valuable resource. Linked to their science curriculum, it takes them on an underwater journey from Sea-Monkeys (a variety of brine shrimp that can hatch from mail-order "seeds") to a tropical habitat of sea horses, clown fish and, says David Murphy of Planet Aqua, "the whole cast of Finding Nemo". They can see and touch spider crabs, starfish and a shark, as well as getting into fancy dress to see how long it would take the rubbish produced by a Stone Age man, a pirate and a 1970s hippy to break down in the sea. Planet Aqua , which is open to schools during the week and to the public at weekends, continues until March 1st. This is an EU-funded pilot; if the organisers can find a corporate sponsor, the exhibition will be able to tour the country in the future. See www.planetaqua.ie. Nicoline Greer
TRAD JAZZ When it comes to musical genres, jazz and sean-nós singing seem about as far apart as you can get. But that's why Translations, a concert at Mermaid Arts Centre, in Bray, Co Wicklow, sounds so intriguing. The jazz musician Michael Buckley has written a series of arrangements integrating the forms that he and his new international quartet will perform with the uillean piper Martin Nolan and the sean-nós singer Éamon Ó Donnchadha. This musical melange – the concert will also include R&B and pop influences – takes place on Saturday, March 4th. To book (€20/€18) call 01-2724030. Eimear McKeith
PYJAMA PARTY Good ideas come to people in the strangest ways. Deirdre Williams, an IT consultant, was at home, recovering from a car prang, when a friend arrived with the sort of goody bag guaranteed to cheer a girl up: beautiful cotton pyjamas, a gripping thriller, a scented candle and luxurious bath products. It was the perfect alternative to a bunch of flowers, and Williams, who was thinking of a career change, thought that if she enjoyed the gift, then so would other people. Now she has launched PJs and Prose (www.pjsandprose.ie), a web-based gift company that delivers exactly what it says on (a very smart looking) box. Choose from a range of jammies and books to be wrapped and delivered to the door. Perfect for a recuperating friend, Mother's Day or what Williams calls "a cosy emergency". Prices from €75. Bernice Harrison
PAPERBACK WRITER Penguin has just published the first 30 titles in its Red Classics series, which it hopes will encourage young readers to explore the classics and older readers to rediscover them. Among the titles are Perfume, The Day of the Locust, Wuthering Heights and The Great Gatsby. More details from www.penguinclassics.co.uk/reds. Eimear McKeith